Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Trump Supports Florida’s Drug Importation Law In Move That May Become 2020 Talking Point In Battleground State

President Donald Trump is offering support of the idea of importing drugs from other countries to cut costs even though HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) have both questioned the safety of such a plan.

The Associated Press:
Trump Backs Fla. Plan To Import Lower-Cost Meds From Abroad
In a move sure to get attention in a 2020 battleground state, President Donald Trump indicated Thursday that his administration may approve a Florida plan to import lower-cost prescription drugs from abroad for use by residents. It's the latest flashpoint in a confrontation between the Trump administration and the pharmaceutical industry, which for years successfully has fought off importation proposals. Drugs in other economically advanced countries are often much cheaper because governments set prices. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Anderson, 5/9)

The Hill:
Trump Gambles In Push For Drug Import Proposal
Trump’s own secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, expressed concerns with the idea in a meeting at the White House on Monday, and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who chairs the Senate committee overseeing the issue, questioned whether the imported drugs would be safe. But Trump appears eager to push forward in his pursuit of lowering drug prices, embracing an idea that is one of the signature proposals of progressives like 2020 Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). (Sullivan, 5/9)

In other pharmaceutical news —

The Wall Street Journal:
Biotech Is Place To Be For Top Salaries
In biotechnology, the rank and file are well-to-do. Many of the highest-paying employers in the health-care sector—and the entire S&P 500—were biotech companies, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of annual disclosures for hundreds of big U.S. companies as provided by MyLogIQ. (Thomas, 5/9)

Modern Healthcare:
Ascension Urges Congress For Help On Biosimilar Uptake
Ascension called on U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers Thursday to encourage more biosimilar use, claiming it could lower staggering drug costs that are hampering care. Although Ascension is the biggest not-for-profit hospital chain, it claims it has trouble obtaining volume-based discounts for drugs and only 18.6% of its drug spending involves products that have steady prices for an entire year. (King, 5/9)

Bloomberg:
Fears Of An Amazon Drug Store Disruption Can Be Shelved, Evercore Says
Worries that Amazon.com Inc. will crush the retail pharmacy market can be shelved for now. That’s the view according to survey results from Evercore ISI. The findings showed that just 7% of U.S. households ordered over-the-counter drugs online instead of visiting a brick-and-mortar store, the survey of 2,500 adult consumers revealed. While online sales of over-the-counter medicine sales rose by 21 basis points from 2017, the growth is at a considerably slower rate than other industries and offers a glimmer of hope for the likes of CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (Lipschultz, 5/9)

Kaiser Health News:
Is It A Feminist Right To Want More Sex? One Company Thinks A Pill Is The Answer
Studies have never defined a “normal” level of sexual desire. Despite that, there’s a website and an online quiz to help you decide if you’ve got a problem. Called “Right to Desire,” it brands libido as a feminist “right,” and its home page offers the defiant, in-your-face prompt: “Yes, I want my desire back.” Click a few boxes and you’re instantly directed to a remedy (and an online doctor to prescribe it): a pill called Addyi from Sprout Pharmaceuticals. “This particular product should not have been approved by FDA, but it was, and it is not a product that adds value to women’s lives,” said Susan Wood, assistant commissioner for women’s health at the Food and Drug Administration from 2000 to 2005. (Bluth, 5/10)

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